Essay on Mod 7 Psychological And Physical Effects Of Grief

Grief is a natural response to a major loss, though often deeply painful and can have a negative impact on your life. Any loss can cause varied levels of grief often when someone least expects it however, loss is widely varied and is often only perceived as death. Tugendhat (2005) argued that losses such as infertility, miscarriage, stillbirth, adoption and divorce can cause grief in everyday life. Throughout our lives we all face loss in one way or another, whether it is being diagnosed with a terminal illness, loss of independence due to a serious accident or illness, gaining a criminal record (identity loss), losing our job, home or ending a relationship; we all experience loss

The Death of Ivan Illych brings an excellent in-depth description of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross’s 5 cycles of grief theory. In the book, it shows how Ivan Illych goes through these cycles in their own individual way. The cycles that Kubler-Ross uses in her theory are: denial, anger, depression, bargaining, and acceptance. To get a better understanding of these cycles, this paper will describe each cycle and provide quotations that will help develop an idea of how someone going through these cycles may react.

Loss is a phenomenon that is experienced by all. Death is experienced by family members as a unique and elevated form of loss which is modulated by potent stages of grief. Inevitably, everyone will lose someone with whom they had a personal relationship and emotional connection and thus experience an aftermath that can generally be described as grief. Although bereavement, which is defined as a state of sorrow over the death or departure of a loved one, is a universal experience it varies widely across gender, age, and circumstance (definitions.net, 2015). Indeed the formalities and phases associated with bereavement have been recounted and theorized in literature for years. These philosophies are quite diverse but

Attachment is a deep and enduring emotional bond that connects one person to another across time and space (Bowlby, 1969). Likewise, attachment theory is a psychological model that seeks to illustrate the dynamics of both long term and short- term interpersonal relationships (Waters, E.; Corcoran, D.; Anafarta, M. 2005). Additionally, attachment theory address how people respond within relationships when hurt, separated from loved ones, or when they perceive a threat (Waters et al., 2005). Attachment theory is the combined work of John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth (Bretherton, I. 1992, p. 1). The theory predominantly draws on the ideas from doctrines such as, ethology, cybernetics, information processing and developmental psychology (Bretherton, I. 1992, p. 1). It is considered that attachment theory has revolutionized the way society thinks about the relationship between the mother and her child and the importance of

Applying two theoretical approaches I would apply Bowlby (attachment) and Maslow (humanistic). John Bowlby was a psychoanalyst and believed that mental health and behavioural problems could be linked to early childhood. Bowlby suggested that a child would initially form only one primary attachment (monotropy) and that the attachment figure acted as a secure base for exploring the world. The attachment relationship acts as a model for all future social relationships so disrupting it can have severe consequences.

As in have mentioned in my introduction, there are mainly theorists in this field and all have there own perception of attachment. One such theorist, John Bowlby states

There were twelve children in each pre-school class, and there were two classes in the room I was assigned to. The children I interacted with ranges from four to five years old and came from socially diverse backgrounds. Hence, the observation and interaction I had with each child is different but did not entirely deviated from the expected level of maturity based on the various developmental theories. During this assignment, I observed the children regularly interacting with each other, honing their interpersonal skills through various activities. Although, the children tend to be egocentric at times, fighting over every pieces of Lego, as they struggle to see things from the perspective of other children. In particular, the children often bickers in vying for play time with me and the other teachers. However, in most cases, the children themselves resolved their squabble; a testament to Erikson’s theory, as they develop a sense of initiative and security in their ability to lead and make decisions. A true sign of the children’s developmental maturity.

Grief is often accompanied by feelings of anger, intense sadness, difficulty in engaging in happy memories, and obsession with the departed or with the situations surrounding the death of a loved one (Minuchin & Fishman, 2009). This is shown in the video “A Family Disrupted: Dealing with the Death of a Sibling”, when Lois cries uncontrollably and acts completely shocked and disconnected. The video also shows the effects of grief with Jerry, who feels angry and isolated, and often wishes to be alone. When an individual is grieving and cannot overcome the grief, it is important to seek a qualified therapist for help. Therapists will effectively tailor various therapeutic models to address the special needs of individuals or family members who are struggling with grief (Worden, 2010). To help the people who are grieving in this video, models like solution focused therapy are used.

In the part of the essay I will describe and evaluate Bowlbys theory of Attachment and the learning theory of Attachment. I will show strengths and weaknesses in both theories. I will use a collection of source literature to back up and correlate this information.

Grief is the act following the loss of a loved one. While grief and bereavement are normal occurrences, the grief process is a social construct of how someone should behave. The acceptable ways that people grieve change because of this construct. For a time it was not acceptable to grieve; today, however, it is seen as a necessary way to move on from death (Scheid, 2011).The grief process has been described as a multistage event, with each stage lasting for a suggested amount of time to be considered “normal” and reach resolution. The beginning stage of grief is the immediate shock, disbelief, and denial lasting from hours to weeks (Wambach, 1985). The middle stage is the acute mourning phase that can include somatic and emotional turmoil. This stage includes acknowledging the event and processing it on various levels, both mentally and physically. The final stage is a period of

Research studies are vital for understanding how to make practice and policies the best they can be for service users. Social work is a diverse and complex field, and research studies in this area not only allows social work professionals to expand their personal knowledge within their practice, but it can also benefit their clients and even society from a policy or legislative level. In discussing the vital importance of such research I will be looking at the work of Elizabeth Kubler-Ross (1969), whereby she forms a model of stages of grief. Before the 1970s, psychologists treated death as taboo. However Kubler-Ross’ book, ‘On Death and Dying’ outlined the need for understanding human loss, signalling a new era of open discussion on the topic.

John Bowlby’s Theory describes three main areas of attachment, firstly ‘Protest’ the child will show a lot of distress by loud crying and tantrums to get the parent or carer back. ‘Despair’ when the child is withdrawn and crying occasionally when left. Finally ‘Detachment’ the child becomes increasingly independent and interested in the environment around them rather than wanting their parent or carer.

observing children.) to established a schema of child attachment styles which has enabled us to

The theory of attachment is a postulation in developmental psychology that emphasises on the significance of attachment regarding personal development. This theory claimed that individuals have the ability to form an emotional and physical attachment to another person to give them a sense of stability and security. This is vital for an individual’s personal development in terms of risk – taking, branching and growing as a whole. This theory started off with the context of children and parents in the ‘60s and ‘70s. However, it later expanded to cover for adult romantic relationships in the late 1980s. This term was first coined by Psychologist, John Bowlby and developed by Mary Ainsworth, who based her research on pre – existing

Effective trauma counselling requires consideration of various aspects. Kubler- Ross, (2010) introduced the five stages of grief, (denial, anger, bargaining, depression & acceptance), which are experienced during the grieving process. These combined with Worden’s (2004), four tasks of grief requires the client to complete each one in order for the grief cycle to be completed, neither of these are linear or time limited, although Worden (2004) believes the tasks take a natural order of progression and may require revisiting. These four stages include accepting the loss, working through the pain, adjusting to the environment and finding a connection with the lost whilst moving forward.